0600 temp. at 8920’ Mt. Rose TH: 33 deg. Trace new snow.

Backcountry obs.:

The first measurable snow of the late summer arrived to the Sierra yesterday afternoon/evening (8/24). A deep, early season low from the NE Pacific crossed the Sierra Fri.-Sat. bringing cool, moist air and plenty of instability to drop temps, fire some thunderstorms and coat the high elevation Tahoe peaks with the first dusting of the season.

Running the Mt. Rose trail to the summit ridge, I encountered between a trace to ~3”. Above tree line small drifts of up to 6” with light surface riming coated the ground. Finally some precip. to tamp down the late summer dust! Wildflowers and sage are amazingly fragrant today!

Today’s snow will likely melt off by afternoon as warm temps and high pressure return to the area for the coming week. The end of summer is fast approaching!